Saturday, July 29, 2006

The Khazar Jews, antisemitism, and "Islamophobia," oh my!

It is quite well known that "The Protocols of Zion" are not only a total and complete fabrication, but they also are taught as fact in much of the Muslim world, and formed much of the basis behind Mein Kampf. However, a less well known fabrication that has hit the hate circuit is based upon the notion of the "Khazar Jew." Essentially, what is said is that Ashkenazi Jews are not "real Jews," and have taken over the Jewish faith, and do not deserve Israel. This is all based on fabrications and stretching of the facts that are known.
There are genetic studies that in fact show a genetic link between Jews and Middle Eastern populations. The genetic studies can be found here and here.
In short, there is genetic proof that Jews are "semites."
Moreover, I am not sure why it would matter if someone converted, anyway? The point is not that my direct ancestors 2000 years ago fled Israel. The point is that Israel is a land that Jews as a PEOPLE have long historical ties to, and in fact lawfully purchased the land of. It was also deeded over to the Jews via the UN. It is one of the most legitimate states one can possibly conceive of.
For more on the history of Khazar, you can read Wikipedia. Other sources are found here, here, and here. As you can see, the history of Khazar is not settled, and there is no "proof" that the Ashkenazi Jews are descendants from Khazar. The only proof is that there were Khazar Jews - that's it. There is no corresponding connection between those Khazar Jews and Ashkenazis. But even if there was proof, so what? How is that relevant? Why would that matter even one iota? The legitimacy of Israel is not based upon a blood connection with people from thousands of years ago.
One common thing stated by people across the world is a moral equivalence - that somehow Jews are taught to hate just as Muslims are. This is quite untrue! Jews are taught, rightfully so, that the majority of Muslims hate us, but we are not taught that the Koran is an evil document. We just are not. All we are taught is that the Koran is not correct. That's it. Guess what? It isn't correct! I don't believe in any religion, including Judaism! None of them are correct!
In any case, Jews are not taught that the Koran is a violent document. We are basically not taught much about the Koran, or the New Testemant. We are just told they exist. I say this as someone who was bat mitzvahed and went through Hebrew School - and spoke to plenty of Jewish friends who had similar experiences. Jews are not taught to hate, quite unlike the majority of the Middle East - where the Protocols of Zion are taught as fact. Don't just trust me - you can look at the Hebrew School resources online. You will see them hate-free! Look here to see the history of Hebrew Schools.
Now, as far as the Koran goes. It is a document that depends on the passage one looks at. It tells of the wars that Mohammed went through, and speaks of his Jihad. Is it violent? Yes. But to be fair, so is the bible - the religious texts are violent in general. This is part of the problem I have with religion.
However, Jews are taught to question everything, including the bible. We are not told that anything except for the Ten Commandments are the literal word of God. That contrasts with Muslims, who are NOT taught to question.
It is because Jews are taught to question that they, statistically speaking, have produced more scholars, world leaders, scientists, and academics than any other group of people. Questioning and thinking is the very BASIS of Judaism. It is the basis for the Talmud. There are even strains of Judaism that embrace agnosticism! Thinking is the key to the advancement of civilizations. It is the reason why the tiny number of Jews that exist in the world have such a disproportionate impact upon the world. It is how Jews made the desert bloom in Israel in a few simple decades, after it was swampland for thousands of years. They used their brains! They used science and technology!
I say this, and yet to be honest, I am not schooled enough in Judaism for my liking. I do not believe in Judaism, or any religion, but I think it is important to learn about something prior to writing about it. This is why I hope to learn more about Islam as well. I am not content with the amount of knowledge that I have. I am always seeking ways to learn more, and devour yet another book.
This is the basis of Judaism, which has produced one of the finest people that ever walked the earth.
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UPDATE: Proof of the widespread dissemination of the Protocols of Zion can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. That's just for anyone who doubts that the Protocols are taught as fact in the Middle East.

Khazars were a Turkic people, based in what is modern Ukraine. Their elite (tiny minority) accepted Judaism but that's it. There were ethnic Jews in Khazaria too. Khazar Kaganate was a tolerant state and all faith were allowed to coexist.

When the state was destroyed by Kiev Russia that was the end of Khazars as a nation. Jews from Khazaria that were not killed may have moved on to Poland and other locations.

It is 100% clear that modern Jews are not descendants of Khazars, because:

1. The above history proves it.

2. You can look at a modern Jew and pictures of ancient Hebrews and compare them. You can also look at various turkic people and see the difference.

3. Genetic studies that you mention prove that their was no more than 0.5% intermarriage per generation.

There is no chance whatsoever that modern Jews are descendants of Khazars.

quote: "The point is that Israel is a land that Jews as a PEOPLE have long historical ties to"Wait a minute! The Jews have long historical ties to many places. Do they get states in all those places also? quote: "There are genetic studies that in fact show a genetic link between Jews and Middle Eastern populations."So what? The Khazzars were a Turkic people, and the Turks are also a Middle Eastern population. Besides, when I look at photographs of modern Jews such as Sharon or Netanyahu, they look like Europeans, and nothing like Arabs. The genetic studies don't match up with observable fact, and as mentioned earlier, they don't mean anything anways since Khazzars were a Turkic people, and the Turks are also a Mid Eastern people."and in fact lawfully purchased the land of."No, only about 6% of the land was purchased, and much of that was from abscentee land lords who had questionable ownership of the land they sold. The Palestinian tenants were evicted even though the Palestinians owned the orchard trees."It was also deeded over to the Jews via the UN." The UN had no right to hand over what didn't belong to it. The land belonged to the people who lived there: the Palestinians, and not to a foriegn group like the UN who merely claimed control."It is one of the most legitimate states one can possibly conceive of."On the contrary, it is one of the most illigitimate states one can possibly conceive of. If Israel is a legitimate state, then that implies that the Palestinians are illigitimate humans since it implies that it is ok to flood immigrants to their land against their wishes, massacre their villages and drive them out into the wilderness."The only proof is that there were Khazar Jews" And that the Khazar Jews were driven towards Eastern Europe where later were found a great many Jews, and many other proofs as well."that somehow Jews are taught to hate just as Muslims are. "When we hear words like Rabbi Eliyahu's saying that the life of a Jew is worth a thousand Arabs, and many other sayings, we can see that the Israelis are indeed taught to hate.And it was the Israelis who taught the Muslims to hate Jews since the Israelis caused so many atrocities against the Muslims."It tells of the wars that Mohammed went through, and speaks of his Jihad."These were wars that were inflicted first upon the Muslims. Jihad was and is a defensive act, despite the propaganda against Islam which aims to make it appear a violent religion."That contrasts with Muslims, who are NOT taught to question."Quite a bit of bigotry and ignorance there. The Quran repeatedly tells the Muslims to think and ponder. Muslims led the world in science for some time until the Mongolian invasions, the Crusades, and imperialism, drove them down. But now, like China, they are rising. Glad to see that.

i always thought it was weird that people thought "real jews" should be arabs. jews were never arabs... just because arab peoples later spread across the middle east doesn't mean that every single group of people in the middle east in all of history was an arab. what a ridiculous thing to believe. the ancient greeks themselves described persians as being white-skinned. and i've seen many people from the middle east who are whiter than i am! arab expansion and the stereotype that all middle easterners are arabs means you don't notice them so much any more, but they are just as middle eastern as arabs.

frankly, if jews have changed greatly in appearance since biblical times, i'm inclined to believe most of it happened BEFORE jews came to europe. correct me if i'm wrong here, but didn't the greeks and romans invade and occupy israel for hundreds of years? lots of jews have a good eye for knowing who is jewish by looking at them, and lets face it, greeks and italians are the ones we tend to guess wrong on. what, is that just a coincedence? i doubt it. it only makes sense that the rapes of jewish women that would have inevitably happened during these long centuries of greek and roman occupation probably affected our gene pool quite a bit.

the bare facts are that genetic studies show that jews, ashkenazim included, do have their origins in the middle east. not that it matters, since even if ever jew in europe was a pure khazar, that doesn't stop them from being a full fledged jew... jews have the right to self-determination - to allow any group of people we want to become one of us and join our people.

The author says of the Koran, "Is it violent? Yes. But to be fair, so is the bible - the religious texts are violent in general."

The difference is that the violence of the Bible was limited in time and place while the Koran is eternal and global. The Hebrews were directed to conquer and settle one specific piece of territory then held by seven Canaanite nations, to remember Amalek, etc. But that's it. Even the punishments laid out only applied to the Children of Israel, not to strangers. In contrast, Islamic doctrine mandates the spread of the faith to all peoples and lands, and to subdue them if they resist.